A virtual Passover meal

Along with many Jewish families we Zoomed into a virtual Passover last night.  We joined our family in Switzerland with some of their friends and their extended families – zooming in from the UK and the USA.

Passover has been celebrated in much worse circumstances so we were very grateful for be able to share the evening and while it was wonderful to see everyone, it will never be the same as the real thing, sitting together around a table sharing food.  Particularly sharing food: Swiss granddaughter was tasked with making the Kneidlach (see previous blog) which, I believe, were perfect but all we could do was look and drool!

Did I mention food? As I commented earlier my Jewish food is very much of the Ashkenazi tradition. However our wonderful son-in-law is not only a great human being but brings a rich Sephardi tradition from his mother.  

One of the items on a Seder plate is Charoseth: this represents the mortar the Jews needed to work with during their enslavement. Ours was something that had to be endured but his is delicious. This makes quite a lot – just as well.

Charoseth – Daniel’s 

360 ml red wine – not too dry

450 gms raisins

225 gms dates

100 gms chopped dried apricots

½ teas cinnamon

¼ teas ground cloves

½ teas fine salt (or to taste)

225 gms almonds

Bring the wine to a simmer and stir in the fruit and spices.  Cook on a medium heat until the fruit has absorbed much of the liquid and the wine has reduced to thick syrup – about 15 minutes

Roughly chop the almonds (can pulse in a food processor) and place in a large mixing bowl. 

Put the fruit into a processor and pulse briefly until it starts to come together into a paste – there should still be chunks of fruit intact. Add to the almonds.  

I believe this is improves with the addition of a pack of figs and Moscato makes a excellent substitution for the wine.  

Enjoy!